Chapter 47

Chapter 4: Eyelid (20)

***

Boom— Boom—

It’s heavy. This thing is really, really heavy. Pulling it out was one thing, but moving it was a whole different story.

Every time the professor took a step, the mana lamps in the city that had been touched by the purple waves emitted from the demon core crystal went out one by one, turning the path he had taken into darkness.

‘I need to hurry... With such a conspicuous approach, there’s no way the magic tower hasn’t noticed...’

It wasn’t that he lacked strength. He had enough strength to run while carrying this crystal, but the problem was his joints.

So, the professor was walking slowly, trying not to shock his knees, while carrying a load as massive as a six-meter-tall steel structure.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Multiple threat signals were detected from the front. When he looked up, he saw several water masses beginning to form in the windows of the magic tower.

“Damn, did I attract too much attention?”

The progress was only slightly behind schedule, but it was far too noticeable. From a distance, a large crystal emitting a purple glow was approaching, turning the city dark, and even a blind person could tell it was dangerous.

Whoosh!

The water masses, which initially looked like dots, quickly grew in size. The first water mass split into seven parts, aiming for the professor’s vital points—

Thud—

But it hit the purple wave and fell as ordinary water.

“Hahaha... Roman, you’re truly a genius...”

In fact, the player wasn’t the first to discover the value of this demon core. It was a magician who studied a substance that all other magicians avoided. Despite losing a significant amount of mana over a long period, he believed that magic engineering would bring new power to humanity. He carved and polished the abandoned demon core, eventually inventing a device that used the demon core’s magic resistance field to recharge used mana stones and even compress mana beyond its limits.

Roman Gia Manson would become a pioneer in demon core research a few years from now.

‘But researching new materials without any help leads to many accidents. Just like Marie Curie, who died while researching radioactive elements.’

Thud, Thud, Thud!

Magic spells kept flying from the tower, but once they entered the range of the demon core, they lost their power and fell. It wasn’t blocking them; it was dispersing the mana that composed the spells.

‘One of the jackpot items Roman created was a dispel machine. This is probably its primitive version, right?’

Boom—

Before he knew it, the magic tower was so close that he had to look up. At this distance, it seemed possible.

“Phew—”

Seeing the faces of the magicians through the windows reminded him of the painful days at the Mandalius mansion. Days of being imprisoned, treated like livestock, and forced to give up parts of his body.

Finally, the time for revenge had come.

“Hahaha... Let’s see if you can still hold your proud faces even if you can’t use magic!”

Thud, Thud, Thud, Thud!

The professor’s body gradually gained speed as he moved forward. He had been careful to conserve his legs, moving slowly despite his impatience. Even if his knees could regenerate, he couldn’t move while carrying this demon core pillar.

'But if the target is right in front of me... I don’t need to worry about that anymore!'

As the professor ran, all the mana lamps around him went out, and the darkness spread across the city, reaching the magic tower. The moment the darkness touched the edge of the tower—

Thud!

The professor pushed off the ground with all his might, and his body, carrying the demon core pillar, flew through the air in a parabolic arc.

The tower’s wall approached, and the magicians’ faces, filled with disbelief, were visible. This was it. This was what he wanted to see. He wanted to see the faces of the magicians who acted as if they ruled the world!

The professor tightened his grip on the demon core pillar and, filled with indescribable joy, shouted:

“Fucking Bastard Incoming! Open the door, you bastards!!!”

Boom!

With tremendous force, the professor, along with the demon core, crashed into the magic tower.

***

In the city of Tovrun, the city of magicians, the Radiantflow Magic Tower, which had once emitted the brightest light, went dark.

The eight water streams that wrapped around the tower’s surface continued to flow, but any magician could see that its vitality was not the same as before.

The professor, who had entered the tower through the deeply embedded demon core pillar, examined his badly damaged legs and looked around.

‘My legs... and my waist are also a bit off. Regeneration will take 3 minutes, no, 4 minutes...’

He had been injured so many times that he could estimate the regeneration time without checking his status window.

4 minutes. In this situation, it felt like an eternity, and there were dozens of magicians around him, but he wasn’t worried.

“Oh, this is unbelievable—!”

“Why! Why can’t I use magic!”

“No, no! Come back! Please! My mana, my mana!!!!”

“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”

Because all the magicians in the tower were in this state.

At that moment, a soft tea fragrance wafted to the professor, who was crawling on the floor.

“...Rokshasha.”

“Did the meaning of the word ‘secretly’ change while I wasn’t looking? And what’s with that strange mask?”

“Well, it’s like that. It’s a tradition from my hometown. People about to do something important used to wear masks with three holes. Here, take it. I knew you’d want one, so I prepared it for you.”

The professor, who had been rummaging through his torn pants to pull out the mask, looked embarrassed as he saw his blood-soaked mask.

“Oops. Do you want mine instead?”

Despite gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, the professor still made a joke, and Rokshasha, forgetting the situation, burst out laughing.

“Professor, you... are really unpredictable.”

“Hahaha. Isn’t that my charm, sister?”

“Haha. Arrogant, but I can’t deny it this time.”

Supporting the professor and leaning him against the wall, Rokshasha leaned in close to his face with sparkling eyes.

“Anyway, since things got more complicated than planned, I need additional payment, right?”

“Oh, please. Can’t we settle that after everything is done?”

“It’s fine. I’ll take it now.”

Click—

Rokshasha lifted the professor’s mask and kissed his grotesque lips. It was a light kiss, like a casual greeting in the West, but it clearly had meaning.

- Holy: Ahhh!!!

- DeerDrug: Possible! Go go go! Go go go! Go go go!

- Takealook: They say treasure is hidden in the most dangerous sea! The professor overcame the danger and finally found the treasure!!!

- SoySauceGaybar: The best workable of this era! The best workable of this era!

- Gunpowder and Blood: Cough! How do you take a screenshot again?

The professor was dazed. What was that? A soft touch? A flower? What was it?

[@)&Rokshasha*(!*!#Gah!)(!&*(I[email protected])(*!#]

“Wha... wha...”

“Oh, don’t look at me with that cute face. It’s thrilling, you know?”

“This... this is... what...”

“Hmm, let’s say I took a down payment?”

“...A down payment?”

“Yes, a down payment! I plan to get a lot more later, but the situation and the place are a bit...”

Rokshasha covered her mouth with her hand and smiled with her crescent-shaped eyes.

“Rest there? We’ll continue this conversation after everything is done?”

Rokshasha left a huge shock in the professor’s mind and disappeared like smoke.

***

A few minutes later.

Dazed—

- SoySauceGaybar: Professor, your legs are almost fully regenerated.

Moo—

- SoySauceGaybar: Professor, your legs are fully healed. You need to work, right? It’s not over yet.

“Uh... yeah... work... I need to work...”

- Jokass: That’s the problem with cherries. Hey! Professor! Don’t think about anything and stick your head out the window!

“Uh, uh...”

Following the viewer’s advice, the professor mindlessly stuck his head out the window.

Whoosh!

Outside the window, an unstable water stream was oscillating along the tower’s wall. The cold sensation of the water woke him up.

“Phew! Uh, uh! Sorry! I passed out for a moment!”

- Jokass: That was effective.

- Takealook: You’re talking about passing out? Hahaha, well done, cherry.

Although the viewers were teasing him, the professor couldn’t respond this time. Damn. His first kiss with a game character. But the sensation was as real as it could be. The warm, soft touch, the fragrance, the hot breath, and...

.

.

.

.

Whoosh!

“Phew! Uh! Focus! I can’t focus!”

- Gunpowder and Blood: Sorry, but that memory will stay with you until you die.

- Jokass: Grrr. For a man, the first love and the first